No grog as Seven's Peter Meakin set to farewell his life's work

HIS departure as Channel 7's head of news and current affairs is one of the biggest moves in TV but Peter Meakin has vowed there'll be no farewell party.

"I've told them I don't want one," Meakin, who on Tuesday announced his pending retirement after 40 years in the game, told Confidential yesterday.

"I said to (Seven owner) Kerry Stokes that the idea of going out and pretending you're happy at your own wake is ridiculous."

The same goes for any long, boozy lunches, the likes of which are almost de rigueur for departing media titans.

"No, no lunch. That would be a great picture - me rolling around at a lunch with a glass of red wine in my hand," he said. "No, I've learnt my lesson in that department."

Not exactly a teetotaller but a "far more sober person", Meakin admits his "regrettable" driving record remains one of the few dark spots on his ledger.

Convicted three times on drink-driving offences committed in 2006 and 2007, Meakin did 250 hours' community service and had his licence suspended for eight years, which earned him some considerable flack.

"There are a few things I prefer to forget but, in general, my appalling driving record, I'd love to be able to rewrite that," he said.

Another matter for which he was widely criticised was the "outing" of former state Labor minister David Campbell after Meakin opted to air footage of Campbell leaving a gay sex club in 2010.

"I honestly believe there was a public interest in doing that story and I still believe that," Meakin said.

"I know it was contentious and I can see both sides to the argument but if there had been a heterosexual minister coming out of a heterosexual brothel I don't think there would have been nearly the uproar that there was."

Meakin will officially step aside next June but has hinted at an unspecified TV role "that will come as a surprise to everyone but me".